Sheila Carapico
Carapico returned to the United States in the summer of 2011 after spending three consecutive semesters in Egypt at the American University in Cairo as a visiting member of the faculty and chair of the political science department. After spending Christmas at home, Carapico returned to Egypt on Jan. 25, 2011.
“I knew something was going to happen,” she said of the fervor that led to the revolutions, “but I didn’t know that much was going to happen.”
Prior to Jan. 25, there were often small protests, Carapico said, adding that there were almost always a few dozen people demonstrating outside the country’s parliament in Tahrir Square.
While many ex-patriots desperately tried to get out of Cairo in the days that followed the initial uprising, Carapico—who specializes in international relations and comparative politics—settled in, welcoming the opportunity to witness history unfold in front of her.
“It was very exciting,” she said. “It reminded me of the civil rights movement in the United States, except kind of in fast-forward because there were such big demonstrations every single day.”
Because the protests started before the academic semester began, the American University in Cairo delayed classes for two weeks. Two days after former President Hosni Mubarak resigned, classes began.
Although there was not much noticeable change in day-to-day life, Carapico said there was a definite shift in the way people expressed opinions. Before the revolution, most people would not discuss politics with strangers. Afterward, it was all anyone was talking about.
“It was an incredible teaching experience,” she said. “The students themselves were so intimately involved in what was going on.”
The experience was thrilling for Carapico, but she certainly experienced moments of apprehension. The night of Jan. 28, a huge police presence moved into downtown Cairo. The demonstrators confronted the police, who responded with tear gas and live ammunition. The demonstrators then broke through police lines, forcing police to flee. Fires burned in the city, including at the national party headquarters.
“It was extremely chaotic,” she said.
Thankfully, Carapico was not living in the heart of downtown, but rather a 20-minute metro ride away. Signs of the revolution were still very apparent outside the city’s center, however. With a complete lack of police presence, citizen watch groups sprang up in neighborhoods to patrol the streets at night, and high school students organized cleanup brigades during the day.
Revolutions, however, take a long time, Carapico said. The military, which served Mubarak, remains in power and the demonstrations continue. Egyptians are not yet satisfied and are asking for the military to make serious preparations for a transition away from its rule.
“It’s a little hard to see what the long term will bring,” she said. “Everyone recognizes this was sort of the beginning of a process of change rather than the end.”
Back in the United States, Carapico taught courses at Richmond in the fall on the Arab Spring revolutions. She discussed analyses from participants and visitors, putting students in touch with writings and online resources and used social science tools to analyze what happened.
“It gave me an increased fondness of Egyptians,” she said. “I want to try to bring the experience home.”
Originally printed in the fall 2011 issue of Artes Liberales.